Reference
A glossary of casino terms
Fourteen terms, defined the way a building inspector would define them rather than the way a brochure would. Some describe rooms, some describe law, one describes a machine that goes by two different names depending on who is filling in the form.
Casino
It descends from casa in its Italian diminutive form, meaning a house that is little. Venetians of the 18th century applied it to a modest private apartment where socialising happened; the association with gambling arrived afterward.
Ridotto
Consider the room on its own. Within the Palazzo Dandolo, Venice launched the Ridotto in 1638 — a converted palazzo interior, undertaken at the government's own initiative rather than raised as a dedicated building.
Adaptive reuse
Slotting a fresh purpose inside a building already standing. This pattern was established by the Ridotto in 1638 and held as standard practice across two centuries — one plainer, more recent instance being a railway station of 1928 on North Terrace.
Gaming floor
The room where wagering equipment sits. In most Australian projects it is one component among hotel, convention space and theatre, sold as tourism infrastructure rather than the whole building.
Pit
A cluster of table games supervised as a group, usually by one pit boss, so staff and overhead cameras can watch several tables at once.
Croupier
The staff member who runs a table game — dealing cards, spinning a wheel, settling bets according to house rules.
House edge
The statistical advantage built into a game's payout structure, expressed as a percentage of each wager the operator expects to retain over time.
Gaming licence
Legal permission, issued by a state or territory regulator, to run a gaming floor. Conditions attached can govern anything from opening hours to floor plan.
Heritage listing
Formal recognition that a building has historic value worth protecting. Wrest Point's addition to a heritage register, as Australia's first legal casino, provoked argument about whether a gambling building belongs on one at all.
Resort-casino
A model popularised at Monte Carlo from 1863 under François Blanc: gaming bundled with hotel, dining and entertainment, so the floor reads as one part of a larger product.
Junket
An organised tour, typically of high-spending players, brought in by a third-party operator under commercial arrangement with the casino.
Floor area
The measurable footprint of a gaming floor — once a headline claim in itself. Burswood in Perth opened on reclaimed land in the Swan River with the largest floor area in the country at the time.
Revolving restaurant
A restaurant mounted so it turns on a mechanism, an idea borrowed from the observation towers of the 1960s and 70s. In one instance it crowns a tower that is octagonal, so each room above gains an angled outlook onto water.
Slots / pokies
Same machine, different vernacular. "Slot machine" — the British-American term — appears in most Australian regulatory documents; "pokies" is the everyday word, rarely seen in legislation.